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#1 reason we wouldn't do things like that today: 112-154 people died during construction (number depends on if you believe that carbon monoxide poisioning durin

by pilom 9y ago

#1 reason we wouldn't do things like that today: 112-154 people died during construction (number depends on if you believe that carbon monoxide poisioning during construction was purposely mis-diagnosed in order for the company to skip on paying death benefits).

ori_b 9y ago
You say that as though dams can't be built without killing people. They aren't gifts bestowed by the gods upon the completion of sufficient human sacrifice. Deaths and injuries are minimal with construction equipment and safety techniques.
- pilom 9y ago
  The Hoover Dam was build for about $800 million inflation adjusted. I'm 100% certain that you couldn't build that structure today for that much without killing people.
  - sfifs 9y ago
    So are you saying Japan builds infra cheaper than US by killing people?
    - flubert 9y ago
      What would be a good way to compare these types of numbers? http://www.jisha.or.jp/english/statistics/accidents2010.html#Fig1 http://www.jisha.or.jp/english/statistics/accidents2010.html... https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html
  - revelation 9y ago
    Spending $800 million on tons of tiny general construction projects will kill just as many people.
noonespecial 9y ago
This is a huge reason the Apollo program succeeded as well. Everyone accepted the fact that the astronauts might not be coming back.
- dTal 9y ago
  That's quite different. The astronauts were small in number and accepted the risks for themselves. It's not as if hundreds of contractors died building the Saturn V itself.
  - derwiki 9y ago
    But all those contractors on the death star... /Clerks
  - FiatLuxDave 9y ago
    No, the numbers were much smaller: http://afspacemuseum.org/ccafs/fatalities/ http://afspacemuseum.org/ccafs/fatalities/
    - dTal 9y ago
      That page is a nice tribute, and a reminder that it's not just about astronauts. Far more people ultimately died on the ground. However I would note that many of those deaths postdate the Apollo program, and some are only tenuously linked with space travel at all: "10 June 1981 - Scott Maness, firefighter with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, died at Kennedy Space Center after becoming trapped during a firefight"

by pilom 9y ago

ori_b 9y ago

You say that as though dams can't be built without killing people. They aren't gifts bestowed by the gods upon the completion of sufficient human sacrifice. Deaths and injuries are minimal with construction equipment and safety techniques.

pilom 9y ago
The Hoover Dam was build for about $800 million inflation adjusted. I'm 100% certain that you couldn't build that structure today for that much without killing people.
- sfifs 9y ago
  So are you saying Japan builds infra cheaper than US by killing people?
  - flubert 9y ago
    What would be a good way to compare these types of numbers? http://www.jisha.or.jp/english/statistics/accidents2010.html#Fig1 http://www.jisha.or.jp/english/statistics/accidents2010.html... https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html
- revelation 9y ago
  Spending $800 million on tons of tiny general construction projects will kill just as many people.

noonespecial 9y ago

This is a huge reason the Apollo program succeeded as well. Everyone accepted the fact that the astronauts might not be coming back.

dTal 9y ago
That's quite different. The astronauts were small in number and accepted the risks for themselves. It's not as if hundreds of contractors died building the Saturn V itself.
- derwiki 9y ago
  But all those contractors on the death star... /Clerks
- FiatLuxDave 9y ago
  No, the numbers were much smaller: http://afspacemuseum.org/ccafs/fatalities/ http://afspacemuseum.org/ccafs/fatalities/
  - dTal 9y ago
    That page is a nice tribute, and a reminder that it's not just about astronauts. Far more people ultimately died on the ground. However I would note that many of those deaths postdate the Apollo program, and some are only tenuously linked with space travel at all: "10 June 1981 - Scott Maness, firefighter with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, died at Kennedy Space Center after becoming trapped during a firefight"